


the sons of regret

by quibblr



Series: stars chase the sun [3]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Civil War Fix-It, Civil War Team Iron Man, Extremis Pepper Potts, Extremis Tony Stark, F/M, Gen, Not Beta Read, Not Steve Friendly, Pro-Accords, Recovery, Tags May Change, Tony Stark Has A Heart, not team Cap friendly
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-10
Updated: 2018-05-30
Packaged: 2019-02-13 20:18:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12991746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quibblr/pseuds/quibblr
Summary: Tony is a mechanic. His job is to fix things, but it also means you have to know when they aren't worth salvaging. After Captain America leaves him in Siberia, he knows that the old Avengers aren't worth it.But Bucky Barnes might be.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Title from Orphans by The Gaslight Anthem

****

In retrospect, getting out of the armor had probably been a bad idea.

Siberia was _cold_. Tony knew that intellectually, but safely sealed up in his armor, protected against the elements, it was a hard thing to really understand. After Barnes had helped him out of the nonfunctioning suit, he had been left shivering in the frigid weather. Luckily, the bunker still had power - Zemo, that bastard, must have needed it to show the video - and Tony had rigged up a heater to keep him warm until rescue had arrived.

Barnes hadn’t offered any commentary, which Tony was fine with. Just because he had calmed down didn’t mean he was suddenly just okay with Barnes presence. Yeah, he could appreciate Barnes coming back for him. So he could be the bigger man. It might have been Barnes’ hand, but it wasn’t his mind. It wasn’t his choice.

Maybe it wasn’t enough of a distinction. Maybe he could never forgive Barnes. But he could work with him, for now.

If only Steve had told him. If only he hadn’t found out after too long without sleep, after some of the most stressful days of his life, watching his world fall apart around him. If he hadn’t used B.A.R.F. so recently, if the memories weren’t so fresh in his mind. Maybe then he would have reacted more reasonably. Or at least, less violently.

There were too many ifs. But Tony didn’t have time for that. All he had time for was moving forward.

So when Vision arrived, accompanied by a group from the and Joint Terrorism Task Force, Tony was prepared. Steve and the other’s didn’t want to be part of the Accords? Fine. That was… fine. He wasn’t going to let that stop him from protecting the Earth. And if Barnes was going to do right by him, he would repay that.

“Barnes, you know that they’re going to take you in,” he said, looking at the soldier intently.

“Yeah. I guess they are,” Barnes said, rolling his shoulder where the metal arm was missing.

“If you go in peacefully, I can make sure they treat you right. I tried to, before, but that bastard Zemo got to you.”

Barnes looked surprised, and Tony wondered how much he really know about what had been happening.

“Thanks, Stark.”

“Thanks for coming back, Barnes.”

They sat in silence together, and Tony wondered what Barnes was like now. As far as he could tell, Rogers still treated him like they were in the 40’s, and no one had really gotten Barnes’ side of things.

Well, that would change. Tony knew from experience just how easy it could be to get swept up in Captain America’s plans. Someone needed to see what Barnes wanted now.

After 70 years of brainwashing, he deserved that much.

Tony was surprised to see that Vision had arrived with the Task Force, though he realized he shouldn’t have been. Things could still be awkward between the two of them, but Vision had expressed his desired to be friends with Tony, even though he had left he Avengers. Something Tony had been glad for. Vision might not be Jarvis, but he was Jarvis’ legacy, and that meant something.

Vision had taken one look at the suit, with the broken arc reactor, and paled, something Tony hadn’t known he was capable of.

“Tony… if that had still been in your chest,” he started, hesitating, glancing over at a placid James Barnes.

“I know, Viz,” Tony interrupted, not wanting to get into it. Not wanting to talk about how it would have killed him.

Vision frowned,

“Captain Rogers will not get away with this,” he said with an air of finality.

Part of him, too large a part, wanted to tell Viz that it wasn’t as bad as it looked. That Steve had known that the reactor wasn’t in his chest any longer, that he had just been disabling the suit, that Tony should’t have attacked.

But Tony was done making excuses.

“No, he won’t. But we’ll worry about Rogers later. We need to make sure Barnes is taken care of. I don’t want him sent to the Raft.”

“Are you certain?” Vision asked, looking intensely at Tony, like he thought maybe Tony had a concussion.

“Yeah. He came back for me,” he said simply. “We’ll make sure he gets good lawyers and that Ross knows he cooperated. Spin it like Rogers took advantage of his fragile mental state, I don’t know.”

Barnes didn’t say anything to that, but Tony had noticed he was a man of few words. Maybe he just wasn’t used to talking.

Vision nodded, and Tony was loaded onto a gurney at the medics insistence, and onto the quinjet.

Later, at the hospital, it was determined that his artificial sternum was cracked, most of his ribs were either fractured or bruised, and his collar bone was fractured, his shoulder had a torn rotator cuff, and his lungs were in worse shape than ever. Relatively minor injuries, on a healthy man of his age, considering what he’d been through. But Tony’s body, especially his heart, had been under so much stress that the surgery required was considered to be of high risk. And with or without it, he would be benched. To Tony, that wasn’t an option. But there was one thing the doctors hadn’t considered.

Extremis.

 

* * *

 

Pepper, of course, was the first person he saw when the doctors were finished with him. His arm in a sling, his chest bandaged, Tony felt somewhat vulnerable. He had never liked showing weakness, and there was nothing like obvious injuries that did that. And he and Pepper were still on a “break.” Tony still didn’t really understand what that meant. He knew they weren’t breaking up, she had reassured him of that. But it wouldn’t be the first time Tony was confused by the the normal functions of a relationship. If Jarvis was still alive, he probably could have given Tony advice. But Friday was too young, and that left Rhodey, who’s only advice was to wait and not to worry. Which Tony had done, to the best of his ability.

But it was hard to not worry. Lurking in the back of his mind was always the worry that she would finally leave him, would realize that she was better off without him. It was a nonsensical fear. Tony knew how much Pepper loved him. They might have problems, but they were meant to be. Which was really the reason he didn’t understand why they needed a break.

The minute Pepper saw him again, though, the kiss she gave him said the break was over.

She was clearly furious, Tony could tell, because her eyes were glowing. Pepper had excellent control over the powers Extremis gave her, so for it to be so obvious must mean that she was close to completely losing her temper.

“They betrayed you, Tony. After all this time, taking advantage of your time and tech and money, and then don’t even have the decency to listen to your side of things. And now, god. I can’t believe Rogers would do this to you.”

He gave her a smile that lacked any humor.

“Neither did I. And Pepper… he lied to me.”

Something about the way he spoke must have given him away, because she immediately looked even more concerned.

“What do you mean?”

“About my parents. All this time, he was looking for Barnes, but he knew. The Winter Soldier killed my parents.”

“Oh, Tony, I’m so sorry,” she said, leaning over to wrap her arms around him, careful of his injuries.

“And all this time, I blamed my dad, because he was driving. I was so angry at him, for dying, for taking my mother with him. And now it wasn’t his fault after all. And Steve lied. He kept it from me, and then lied to my face. I would have done anything for him, for the team, and he didn’t even have the decency to look me in the eye and tell me the truth.”

“He’s a coward,” Pepper said bluntly, surprising Tony. “And I’m glad he’s gone. I didn’t like how he treated you, how they all took advantage. I never understood why you let them.”

Tony wasn’t surprised at the question, but he didn’t have an answer for her.

“Neither do I. It didn’t seem like they were, at the time. I was like the proverbial frog in boiling water - it was so gradual I didn’t notice it happening.”

There were other issues, of course. The way SHIELD had manipulated him when he had been dying, the unflattering profile Natasha had written about him. The way he’d always been stuck proving he was more than the media’s image, when the other’s abilities and commitment to the team were taken for granted. But Tony had never been that good at people. Oh, he could do the political dance, or charm his way through anything. But when it came to understanding why people did what they did, he was often at a loss.

“Well, no matter how it happened, they’re gone now. And you’ll rebuild the Avengers into something new. Something better. I know it.”

Tony smiled. Her faith in him was astounding, even if he didn’t understand it sometimes. But she was right, because she had to be. The Earth still needed the Avengers.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Tony might be a genius, but he was first and foremost an engineer. The squishy sciences weren’t exactly his forte. So he needed to call in some help. His first thought was Dr. Banner, of course. Bruce had helped him stabilize the Extremis in Pepper’s system. But after the battle of Sokovia, his friend had disappeared. Tony had been worried ever since. Bruce was excellent at hiding, of course, but for so long? Tony doubted that Bruce would stay gone, especially after news of the Sokovia Accords came out. Something must have happened, and Tony had put considerable resources into finding Bruce, but so far he hadn’t had any success. So Tony had to move to other resources.

Helen Cho had refused to work with the Avengers after the Ultron incident, and Tony couldn’t really blame her. After all, they had nearly destroyed the world with a sentient, killer robot that had taken her hostage. Tony might not be very comfortable with them either. But he was somewhat desperate, so she was his first call.

“I would be delighted to work with you again, Tony,” was her surprising reply, after she asked how he was doing and expressed her support for the Accords, much to his pleasure.

“Really? I thought you might like to, you know, stay away from superhero business after what happened,” he said, surprise loosening his tongue.

“Tony, I never had a problem with you. But the way the other Avenger’s treated you, it made me nervous. If they could forget what a baseline human was like even around their friend, what about the rest of us? Thor choked you and no one even tried to help. It frightened me. How could I trust he wouldn’t decide I betrayed them, too?”

Oh.

That hadn’t really occurred to Tony. It had been bad enough, being on the receiving end, that he hadn’t really thought about what it might be like to witness it. Actually, he hadn’t really thought about it at all, as much as it bothered him. He had tried not to. The whole Ultron debacle had been such a disaster, he had just tried not to think about it at all. But now that he did, he realized that he just thought he deserved it.

He knew better now.

“Well, Helen, It’s just going to be you, me, and Vision for now. I might invite another doctor I’ve heard of as well, but that’s all. I need some help, medically, and The Cradle might be perfect. After the fights I’ve been in recently, I’m in bad shape.”

“Of course, Tony! Anything I can do to help.”

And wasn’t that nice? To be offered assistance, without question or hesitation. He wondered how he had gotten so used to fighting for help that he had almost forgotten what it was like to have it freely given.

“Thanks, Helen. I’ll have everything arranged for you.

Even if he couldn’t get Extremis working for him, The Cradle might help his recovery anyway. And he liked Dr. Cho. It would be good to work with her again.

Not for the first time, he doubted his decision to try and create something new with the Extremis virus. His injuries weren’t life or death. Just the difference between being able to fight in the future, and not.

Was it selfish to use Extremis for something like that?

But he remembered what he had seen during the Battle for New York. There was a threat coming, something bigger than anything they were prepared for, and Iron Man would be needed.

The fact that he _wanted_ to use Extremis didn’t change that.

He had been intensely curious about it since he had learned about it, despite the horrific uses Alrich Killian had been putting it to. The super soldier serum was one thing, but using technology to enhance the body? That was more his style.It was brilliant, and if things had been different he would have loved to work on it. As it was, he had limited his work to stabilizing what had been injected into Pepper. But there was so much potential there, so many things he could do.

It was good to be back in his workshop. He spun in his chair, the exhilaration of starting something new only slightly dampened by his injuries. He knew there was so much to be done, that he had so many problems he wasn’t dealing with, but he loved this.

“Fri, start us a new project. Extremis 2.0.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, here we are. The first chapter of my promised multi-chaptered fic.  
> The outline is still in progress, and most tags are subject to change.  
> As for the pairing, I'm thinking of planning on endgame Tony/Pepper/Bucky, but that would be more slow burn. Opinions are welcome.


	2. Chapter 2

The Soldier was confused.

It was a new feeling. For so long his existence had been entirely certain, only receiving orders and following them. Ever since he had broken his conditioning, the world had been strange, but even then there was a sliver of certainty, the knowledge that he knew his place in the world. He was a soldier, an assassin, an asset. And now Steve was back. The memories were hazy and disjointed, muddled by decades of brainwashing and torture, but he could remember a small boy, fighting for what he believed was right. At first, he thought that’s who Steve always would be.

Now, though, he didn’t know. Steve had turned into someone new, someone Bucky didn’t think he liked very much. He still loved him like a brother, but he wouldn’t forget the look on Stark’s face anytime soon, the one he wore when Steve nearly killed him. Bucky knew that look, he knew it too well, and to see Steve cause it was something he didn’t like at all.

Maybe Steve had never been as good as Bucky remembered him.

Or maybe he had changed as much as Bucky had.

Either way, Steve Rogers was the least of Bucky’s problems at the moment. After all, Steve had decided to leave, and Bucky had decided to stay. Because you didn’t leave a man behind. Stark been angry, sure, and Bucky understood why. But he wasn’t their enemy, in the end. He wasn’t Hydra, he was just a man trying to do the right thing.

More than that, Tony Stark was one of his victims. Maybe not directly, but Bucky’s actions, even if they weren’t his choice, had caused him pain.

He couldn’t cause more. And it was such a little thing, to make sure he didn’t have to wait alone for a rescue. To make sure that he wasn’t abandoned.

Why couldn’t Steve do that? The way he had walked away, as if it was a triumph, left Bucky feeling sour.

And Stark’s response had paid his impulsive act back tenfold, giving him the opportunity to peacefully surrender to people he _knew_ weren’t Hydra or SHIELD or some other organization out to take advantage him. Not like before, when masked men could be anyone.

The group that took him in, this anti-terrorist task force, they treated him well enough. With respect to him, but also to his abilities and his potential to escape. He wasn’t going to, but he didn’t bother telling them that. He doubted they would believe him, anyway.

It was almost like a dream, being there. Bucky had pictured himself spending the rest of his life on the run. Even if Steve found him, he had so many triggers in his brain that he knew he couldn’t be trusted. The idea of surrendering wasn’t something he could contemplate, unable to trust that Hydra wouldn’t find him again.

Eventually, he was brought to an interrogation room, where a blond man came in and sat across from him. Bucky stared at him warily, remembering him from the last time he had been captured. The man hadn’t been veyr kind before.

“I’d like to apologize for what happened before, Mr. Barnes. Zemo should never have been able to be able to speak to you.”

To say that Bucky was surprised would be a drastic understatement. The last thing he had expected was an apology. His surprise must have shown on his face, because Ross responded.

“In a way, that lapse in security can be blamed for everything that happened after. We understand that you have certain trigger words, and that you’ve been brainwashed to obey what you are told to do after you hear them. While that kind of manipulation is almost unheard of, we are prepared to make a deal with you, in light of your unusual circumstances. And you should know that Mr. Stark has made an unusual offer.”

Now that brought him up short. Stark had already helped him surrender. And now there was more?

“Mr. Stark has a system that might be able to help you manage your mental triggers. It’s called Binarily Augmented Retro-Framing. He’s agreed to allow you to be the first test subject, if you’ll agree. After this, you’ll meet with your new lawyer. I expect he won’t be happy with me talking to you before he gets here, but I had to take the opportunity.”

Bucky nodded, and with a voice still unused to anything but responding to orders, spoke.

“Thank you. I’d like to do that. Anything to get rid of the triggers. Anything.

* * *

 

Working on Extremis was somehow more difficult than Tony had expected. Not the scientific process - between him and Helen Cho, they were making marvelous progress. They were both of them geniuses, of different specialities, and together they made miracles. No, it was Tony’s new physical limitations that were getting to him. He used to be able to go on a two or three day work binge, stopping just to drink smoothies or take a power nap. Now he felt like and old man, unable to even lift anything too heavy. He grew tired quickly, and his newly diminished lung capacity meant that he felt like he was nearly always out of breath. It left him doing only theoretical work, which was difficult for a man who preferred to work with his hands.

Thankfully, he had other projects to work on. The braces he had made for Rhodey, allowing him to walk again after his injury, had so much potential. Tony had turned them over to the R & D department of Stark Industries, whose job it was to make his genius cost effective, and he had turned to other medical prosthesis.

He remembered, with part regret, part vicious satisfaction, how he had removed Barnes’ metal arm. It made sense, at the time, to remove the threat. More importantly, to destroy what Hydra had made. But it weighed on him. It wasn’t like destroying a weapon, after all - it was Barnes’ _arm_. Party of his body. Tony couldn’t imagine losing a hand.

So, inevitably, his mind had turned to a replacement, and he began to tinker in his spare time. And if his efforts could be made available to the rest of the world, so much the better. Tony would make as much good out of this disaster as he could.

But it wasn’t just the arm. Tony’s thoughts kept turning towards the Winter Soldier himself. More accurately, to James Buchanan Barnes, the man who had been innocent before being taken and turned into a weapon. The kind of brainwashing they must have done, the torture, to make him forget himself, to make him obey any order, even to kill.

Could Barnes truly be held responsible for anything he had done since 1945? Tony doubted it. It didn’t make him feel guilty, not exactly, but he thought he was ready to stop blaming Barnes and start blaming Hydra.

“You look deep in thought,” came the somewhat teasing voice of Pepper, and he felt her hand rest back of his neck. A smile appeared on his face without thought, and Tony turned in his seat to look up at her. She ran her fingers through his hair affectionately.

“Just thinking about Barnes again,” he said, leaning his head against her with a sigh, just the presence of her calming.

“You need to stop beating yourself up about that, Tony. I don’t think anyone can blame you for reacting the way you did.”

He sighed again.

“No, I know. I mean, I’m not proud of it either, but I think I’m done feeling guilty about it. About all of it. I’m not perfect.”

Pepper made a mock gasp, and he chuckled.

“No, seriously. No one is perfect - that’s what the Accords are for. To make sure that the big decisions are never left up to one, imperfect man.”

Pepper coughed.

“Or woman, of course. I was using man as in “mankind,” which is, of course, a sexist term by itself. Humankind, I would think, is the better word -“

Pepper pinched his side, and he let off with a yelp and a grin.

“What are you going to do about him, anyway? I know you arranged for a lawyer.”

“Yeah. I’m not in a trusting mood right now. Last time a government employee got private time with Barnes it ended up triggering him into a killing machine, so I thought it was best to make sure someone we could all trust was in there.”

“That’s a good point,” Pepper said, with a tone that said she didn’t really believe him. “Are you sure that’s the only reason?”

Tony sighed, rubbing his jaw.

“Look, Pep. Barnes… he’s been through more than anyone should ever be. And then Rogers had to go and drag him out of wherever he was hiding into this clusterfuck.Now he’s going to have to deal with a lot more. Recovery is a bitch, you know? So I just want to make sure he gets what he needs.”

“Even though he…?”

“Killed my parents? Yeah. Even though. It wasn’t him. It was Hydra. Rogers was right about that, at least.”

And wasn’t that a bitter pill to swallow?

“I think it’s more complicated than that, Tony,” Pepper added, delicately.

“It can’t be, Pepper. It just can’t, because I can’t deal with that. Barnes didn’t have a choice. How can I blame him, when there are thousands of deaths from weapons that I designed? I didn’t have a choice in those, either. Should we blame me?”

“Of course not, Tony,” Pepper said quietly. “Alright. I won’t say anything about it. Are you doing to offer him B. A. R. F.?” she enunciated each letter in the acronym, rather than say the distasteful word.

“Yeah. I made it for me, but I think if we use it to revisit memories where he hears the triggers, it might help him. I don’t know, I’m not really in charge of that part. There are specialists, and they were very excited with the potential of BARF, and that’s really all I know.”

“That was good of you, Tony,” she said.

“Yeah, well, I figure I owe it to him, after blasting his arm off and everything. Anyway! Helen and I are making great progress with Extremis. She thinks that we’ll be able to proceed within the week.”

“Are you sure you want to do this, Tony?” she asked. The question came from days of worry, that the Extremis virus would fail, or that Tony would regret modifying his body so drastically.

“I have to Pepper. With the Avengers split, the world needs Iron Man more than ever. You know I think something more is coming, something that’s a bigger threat to Earth than Loki was. And with the Avengers split, the world is more vulnerable than ever. I can’t retire, not now.”

He laughed bitterly.

“I thought the Accords would bring us together. Maybe show other enhanced people that it was safe to come out of the woodwork. I wanted the world to trust us. Instead, look at us. Me and Rhodey and Vision are the only ones left, and Captain America is a fugitive. Trust for enhanced people is at an all time low. Pepper, I don’t know where to go from here.”

“You can fix it, Tony. I know you can. We can do it together. And I have some news that might cheer you up.”

“What is it?”

“I’ve just gotten word that Hope Van Dyne has signed the Accords. She’s got a suit similar to Ant-Man, and I hear she’ll be a valuable asset to the team.”

“But isn’t Lang her boyfriend or something?”

Pepper shook her head.

“From what I hear she’s not to happy with him for running off with Rogers. It wouldn’t surprise me if that relationship was over.”

“Yikes. So, Hope Van Dyne, huh? I bet her old man isn’t too happy about her joining up with a Stark. He’s always hated me.”

Pepper frowned. Unfortunately, it wasn’t uncommon for people to have an irrational hatred of Tony Stark. But something in the way he said it made her think it was something different.

“Why is that?”

“Oh, he hated my old man. God, I don’t even know how that started. Dad wasn’t exactly charming when it came to his scientific rivals, especially the ones he knew could match him, like Hank Pym.”

Pepper wanted to be outraged that Pym would carry on hatred from father to son like that, but she wasn’t born yesterday. She knew better. It wouldn’t be the first time she had experienced something like that with Tony.

“Well, it seems that his daughter doesn’t agree. Or at least she’s willing to put it aside for the sake of the greater good, which is something.”

“Yeah. And I have to admit, it would put me at ease to have another member. Rhodey’s still out of commission, and that just leaves Vision. Not much of a team, huh?”

“I thought you were looking up some leads on other enhanced people?”

“Well, yeah, but that takes time. You never know when a threat might appear. And I’d really, really hate for that to happen.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's taken a while for this update, and I hope it was worth the wait.  
> For those of you interested in the pairing, I'm going to keep this story Tony/Pepper. If you were one of those interested in the Tony/Pepper/Bucky triad, I'll hopefully have another story for you!


	3. Chapter 3

Tony had thrown himself into the Extremis 2.0 project with full force, eager to get back to fighting shape. But there was another motive to his workaholic madness. Extremis was experimental, dangerous - and it was the only thing he could think of that could give Rhodey a chance to walk again under his own power.

The guilt he carried for his best friends injuries was enormous. If only he had been faster, if only he had been smarter. If only he had done something, then maybe Rhodey would still be able to walk.

Without Extremis, the braces he had created were the best solution. After all, it got Rhodey walking again, even if it was with mechanical assistance. But if he could cure Rhodey, well. That would be better than anything.

It had been in the back of his mind, to offer Rhodey Extremis once Tony had taken it to prove that it worked. No way he was going to give his brother in all but blood something untested. But somehow, in his obsession over his new project, he had neglected to actually tell Rhodey what he was doing.

“So man, what has you so busy these days? It can’t be the Accords - you must have blown off General Ross five or six times.”

Tony stared at Rhodey for a second. Surely he must have mentioned it sometime? But apparently not.

“No - well, yes, I’m working on some amendments for the Accords, it really needs to be revised, but that’s not - I really didn’t tell you?”

Rhodey looked highly amused.

“Nope.”

“Oh. Um, remember Aldrich Killian?”

“Yeah, but he died after the Extremis - you’re not.”

“I am.”

“Tell me you aren’t going to inject yourself with that stuff.”

“That’s the plan. Don’t be so worried, sourpatch. I’ve been working on improving it with Dr. Cho. It should be perfectly safe by the time we’re finished with it.”

“Should, Tony, is the key word here. You don’t know what’s going to happen if you use that stuff.”

“No, but we can make a reasonable guess. Come on, Rhodey, you know I have to do this.”

“I don’t know that, Tones. I know you’re hurt enough that you should retire from fighting. There’s nothing wrong with that. It doesn’t mean you can’t help. The accords are gonna take a lot of work, and rebuilding the Avengers is too. You don’t need to be in a suit for that.”

Tony was silent for a moment, because he knew that Rhodey was right, in a way. He didn’t need the Iron Man suit for most of his work. He didn’t need to fight to do good. But Rhodey hadn’t seen it - the vast alien army in the expanse of space. He didn’t have the bone deep understanding that Tony did. They weren’t alone in the universe, and something was coming. He couldn’t be on the sidelines for that. They could’t afford it.

“Listen, James,” and now he had Rhodey’s full attention. “I have to do this. And I’m going to. I have Helen on board, and Pepper knows too. So I need you to accept it.”

“Pepper knows?” Rhodey asked, as if he hadn’t heard the rest of Tony’s sentence.

Tony sighed.

“Yeah, she knows, and she supports what I’m doing. Can you?”

Rhodey nodded slowly.

“Yeah. Yeah, I trust you Tony. You know that. So if this is what you want, then I’m okay with that.”

“Aw, honeybear. You trust me,” he teased, grinning. “Thanks. Now, what about you?” he asked, quickly changing focus of the conversation. “Extremis is pretty powerful. It could help you, too.”

Rhodey sat stunned for a moment.

“Are you serious, Tony?”

“Yeah, of course. Helen and I figured out that you have to tweak the formula for each person, now that we’ve gotten rid of the whole fire-breathing thing. Really, it’s been heavily modified. And you’re next, after me, if you want it.”

“ _Yes_ , Tony. Thank you.”

“You don’t need to thank me, Rhodey. I just want you to walk again, you know that.”

“Come here, hug it out Tones,” Rhodey said, opening his arms wide.

“Aw, platypus, you’re going to give me hives,” Tony whined jokingly, before stepping closer to Rhodey and giving him a brief, tight hug.

Now that he knew that Rhodey knew, and even had his agreement to take Extremis, Tony felt more settled. And Vision would feel better too, once they told him. Steve Rogers’ damage was being healed, one day at a time.

 

* * *

 

Tony’s life post-Rogers wasn’t all studying Extremis and hanging out with Rhodey, as much as he would like that. The repercussions of the Avenger’s split still loomed large, and Tony was kept busy with revising the Sokovia Accords and attempting to rebuild the Avengers.

The first person who expressed interested in signing the accords and joining the Avengers was Hope van Dyne. Tony had met her before, but didn’t exactly know her well. But his impression of her was that she was a formidable woman, and he could see how she would be the type of woman to take it upon herself to become a hero.

Especially since her boyfriend had used her family’s technology to wreak the kind of havoc that Scott Lang had. He had made it personal for her, and it was hard to walk away from something like that. Tony had the experience to know.

Still, he couldn’t help but be wary. It wasn’t anything to do with Hope herself, but he was slow to trust, now, and wondered about her motives. Did she really believe what the accords stood for? Only time would tell, he supposed.

While Tony wasn’t the gatekeeper of the Avengers, he was the de facto leader now, so once Hope had informed the Accords committee of her Wasp suit, it was Tony she met with about joining the Avengers.

Tony couldn’t help but be nervous for the meeting. It felt like the future depended on the outcome of it. It was his first chance to add to the Avengers, and how he handled it could chart the course of the Avengers’ future.

Previously, there had been no formal agreement on how to add members. Tony supposed it was meant to be out of a majority vote, but he still felt bitter about Wanda Maximoff being added. She had invaded each of their minds, and aided Ultron, only changing sides when she discovered the reach of Ultron’s plans. Yet he was supposed to treat her like a teammate?Trust his life to her? He couldn’t. It wasn’t the only reason he had left the Avengers, but it was definitely one of them.

He was a little afraid of doing that to one of his teammates. Of becoming as blind as Rogers had been, and adding someone that was a toxic presence. So he had discussed it with Rhodey and Vision, the only remaining Avengers, and had decided that only a unanimous vote could add a new member.

He’d talked to each of them about adding Hope, and they all were a bit nervous about it. It wasn’t really surprising. None of them had great experiences with teammates lately.

But in the end, they had decided that, pending Tony’s decision, they’d allow her on the team for a sort of probationary period. Long enough to get to know her, at least. They didn’t want to punish her for the actions of others, but neither could they dismiss their hard earned lessons.

When Hope arrived at the Avenger’s Compound, Tony was there to meet her. Any anxiety he felt about the meeting was hidden behind a three piece suit and a pair of sunglasses, an armor far older than Iron Man.

“Ms. van Dyne, a pleasure to see you again,” he said, offering her his hand.

“Dr. Stark. Please, call me Hope. I’m looking forward to working with you.”

“It’s just Tony. Why don’t you have a seat? Would you like something to drink?”

“No, thank you,” she said, sitting down on one of the couches in the common area. “Before we start, I just want to say I’m sorry that Pym technology was used against you like that. Scott Lang,” and here she faltered for a moment, “we didn’t have any idea he’d do anything like that.”

Tony couldn’t help but feel for her. Here she and her father had trusted Lang, with highly unique technology. And he had run off, breaking the law and causing untold amounts of damage. All at the call of Steve Rogers.

“It’s not your fault,” he said, the words coming out before he thought about them. “Lang isn’t the first person to lost their wits at the legacy of Captain America. I’m sure he thought it was the right thing to do.”

Hope smiled slightly.

“You’re probably right. I’m sure he did. But it wasn’t, and now we have to move forward. I’ve signed the Accords, as I’m sure you know, but I’ve been informed that the final decision to join the Avengers lies with you, Colonel Rhodes, and The Vision.”

Tony inclined his head.

“Yes. We’ve discussed your membership, and we’ve all agreed that you seem to be an ideal fit for the Avengers. We’d all like to know you a bit more, and especially to train with you. So think of this as a brief probationary period. But if all goes well, you’ll be a full Avenger in no time.”

Hope shifted in her seat, crossing her legs.

“I think that sounds reasonable. What does a probationary period entail, exactly?”

Tony grinned, mirroring her position.

“Well, we just want to make sure there are no problems with the line up. So basically, you’re just low woman on the totem pole right now. And if there’s some kind of emergency, you’ll be back up, instead of charging in with us. Until we get some training in, at least. Otherwise it’s just a matter of paperwork, really.”

Hope nodded slowly, as if contemplating what she had just been told.

“Alright, that makes sense. I understand the need to evaluate my skills and how I get along with the rest of the team. Is there anything else?”

Tony was momentarily stunned at her easy acceptance. If he’d tried to tell Maximoff she was having a probationary period, he couldn’t imagine her accepting it. But then again, Wanda Maximoff didn’t meet usual standard of being reasonable, in his opinion. So maybe his metric was off.

“Not really. You’ve been assigned a room in the compound, in case you’d like to stay over. I’m assuming you aren’t interested in living here?” he asked, and she nodded in confimation.

“That’s fine, but the option is available to you. But sometimes it’s easier to stay the night, especially after a tough training session. Vision and Rhodey are both staying here for now, and I’m in and out. Pepper sometimes is here with me, but not often. The rest of it, I’m sure you can learn as you go.

Hope nodded, apparently thoughtful.

“I can’t say I object to anything, Tony. I’m looking forward to training with you. The more experience I get with the Wasp suit, the better.”

Tony couldn’t deny, he was deeply curious about the suit. His experience with Scott Lang had been from opposing sides, and he really knew very little about the suit’s capabilities. It would be exciting to see them first hand.

“Well, you won’t be training with me, at least not yet. The Iron Man suit -” and here he paused, reluctant to reveal how injured he was “-I’m not up for it, yet. The fight recently took me out of action,” he said, proud that his voice stayed steady. He still wasn’t used to being so open with his vulnerabilities, but he wanted this version of the Avengers to have a base in honesty, and that started with him.

Hope looked startled.

“I hadn’t realized you were so hurt. The fight at the airport wasn’t that severe, I’d heard, except for property damage.”

“It wasn’t. We were all pulling our punches then. There was another fight, after, between me, Rogers, and Barnes. It’s not something I’d like to become public knowledge, though, so we’ve kept it under wraps.”

“I understand. I hope you can join us soon.”

Tony grinned at that. Extremis was almost ready, and he couldn’t wait to be back in action.

“So do I.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, a new chapter!  
> Full disclosure- Ant Man remains the only MCU film I still haven't seen. So Hope's characterization is based entirely on the fanfic I've read.


End file.
